About this project

$6,330

pledged of $5,500 goal

76

backers

Rice in New England!?

We have
successfully grown our first year of rice here in Vermont inspired by
a few pioneers in the state. We now need your help to expand to an
acre of rice paddies which will be able to supply between 3000 and
5000 pounds of rice. We need to build a warming pond, paddies, and
infiltration swales. The pond will also be home to a flock of ducks,
fish, and edible aquatic plants that we will be selling in the
future. The infiltration swales will help direct water down into the
ground and control runoff from our property along with the paddies.

The terraced paddies will not be just a
mono-culture of rice. We are developing a polyculture of plant
species that will grow along side the rice that will be mutually
beneficial. We currently have a 3 plant setup that we will be
experimenting with and expanding over the next few years. Azolla a
water fern acts as a floating ground cover suppressing weeds and
providing nitrogen. It can be harvested to be used as a high protein
food for our animals and as a nitrogen booster in the garden.
Watercress also grows well on the edges of the paddies and fills the
mid-height vertical space in the paddies. With more paddies to
experiment with next year we will be able to add to the list of
combinations that work with rice.

We will also be having a rice growing
workshop in the spring to spread the word on rice growing in New
England. It will be for home gardeners who want to grow a small
amount and for those looking to scale up to production scale.
Attendance to the workshop will be given to those folks who pledge
150 dollars or more.

The money that you pledge will help us
hire a local excavation company, purchase water pipes, seed for
erosion control after construction, and survey equipment to mark out
contours for the swales and paddies. The funding we are asking for
is the minimum we have calculated we could do this project for. Any
extra would be greatly appreciated and help us build drying and
storage space, bags, and further our development of a small scale
human powered and affordable rice huller.

FAQ

A shallow, warm, protected pool of water seems to be a great place for mosquitoes to multiply like crazy. We did not notice a huge amount of mosquitoes around the paddies or the farm this year. Black flies of course but in their normal amounts. For our paddy system I think the azolla and predation where the main two factors keeping the mosquito population down. The azolla creates a thick mat that physically blocks the mosquito. With all the amphibious life we had the larva that did make it was probably consumed pretty quickly. And then we had a really large population of dragonflies and damselflies that are eating hundreds of bugs in a day.

After Irene we had a lot more wet spots around the farm and we did notice a big jump in mosquitoes for a few weeks.

There is already a pond near by the had already been encouraging predators to flourish which helped get our paddy population up faster. It could be that for a new paddy in an area that is low in predators the mosquito population would be higher in the first few years. But the azolla should provide a decient control.

The first thing to note is that we should not be messing with wetland systems to drastically. One of the reasons we want to grow rice to to help create more wetland environments. Humans have been draining out wetlands for agriculture and other uses for a long time and have destroyed millions of acres of habitat. Rice can help encourage a population of wetland creatures as well as performing similar functions of a wetland environment.

If you have an area that has some season surface water or often gets really wet and stays wet after a rain storm a rice paddy could be a good fit. A place where a spring comes up can also be a good place for a rice paddy.

The one big thing to think about is that the water temp coming from the spring or even a run off from a storm will be relatively cool. This can delay the rice from developing as quickly which for our climate is pretty important. If you have space a small warming pond can help. If you don't have the space you can still be successful even with cooler water, but it's something to think about.

And you still need to think about a fertility source if your using spring water.

Kickstarter is not a store.

Pledge $50 or more
About $50

A listing on our sites Rice Hall of Fame as a Rice Lover, a small package of rice seed, a rice growing guide and 4 pounds of freshly hulled rice to be picked up on the farm or at theFarmers Market in Rutland, Vt.

Kickstarter is not a store.

Pledge $75 or more
About $75

A listing on our sites Rice Hall of Fame as a Rice Lover, a small package of rice seed, a rice growing guide and 8 pounds of freshly hulled rice to be picked up on the farm or at the Farmers Market in Rutland, Vt.

Kickstarter is not a store.

Pledge $100 or more
About $100

A listing on our sites Rice Hall of Fame as a Rice Hero, a small package of rice seed, a rice growing guide and 12 pounds of freshly hulled rice to be picked up on the farm or at the Farmers Market in Rutland, Vt.

Kickstarter is not a store.

Pledge $150 or more
About $150

A listing on our sites Rice Hall of Fame as a Rice Hero, a small package of rice seed, a rice growing guide, 5 pounds of freshly hulled rice and you will be able to attend a rice growing workshop in the spring of 2012

Kickstarter is not a store.

Pledge $200 or more
About $200

A listing on our sites Rice Hall of Fame as a Rice Hero, a small package of rice seed, a rice growing guide, 5 pounds of freshly hulled rice you will be able to attend a rice growing workshop in the spring of 2012 and at the workshop you will receive seedling already started in buckets that you can grow for more seed or to be eaten.

Kickstarter is not a store.

Pledge $500 or more
About $500

A listing on our sites Rice Hall of Fame as a Rice Hero, a small package of rice seed, a rice growing guide, 5 pounds of freshly hulled rice you will be able to attend a rice growing workshop in the spring of 2012 and at the workshop you will receive 4 seedling kits already started in buckets that you can grow for more seed or to be eaten. Plus a hand drawn rice inspired peace of art by meadow

Kickstarter is not a store.

Pledge $1,000 or more
About $1,000

A listing on our sites Rice Hall of Fame as a Rice Hero, a small package of rice seed, a rice growing guide, you will be able to attend a rice growing workshop in the spring of 2012, 5 pounds of freshly hulled rice and at the workshop you will receive 6 seedling kits already started in buckets that you can grow for more seed or to be eaten. Plus a hand drawn rice inspired peace of art by meadow and most importantly our devotion for all eternity